Sociological importance of Punjab

In the earliest days of Hinduism the people of the Punjab Proper were a bye-word in the mouths of the worshippers of Brahma.

Brahmanism has always been weaker there than perhaps in any other part of India

Neither

Islam nor the

Hindu religion has ever been able to expel from the lives of the people

their customs and superstitions

which they brought with them from the homes of their ancestors;

and the worship of godlings unknown to the Hindu pantheon,

the social customs which still survive in full force

among the majority of the nominal adherent of either religion,

and -the peculiar cults of the inferior and outcast races, offer for investigation an almost virgin field full of the richest promise.

In the Punjab hills

the Hindu religion and

the caste system to which it gave birth

are to be found free in a very unusual degree from alteration by external influences,

though doubtless much deteriorated by decay from within.. Hariana areas' Bishnois are found to be

a curious offshoot from the national religion

which is peculiar to them alone.

For the inquiry into primitive institutions and the early growth of property in land

the Punjab and North-West Frontier Provinces afford material of singular completeness and importance. Tribal organisation and tenures are to be found nowhere in India in such primitive integrity as on the western frontier of the North West Frortier Province, In the eastern plains of the Punjab

the village communities are typically perfect in their development. Between the two extremes every step in the gradation from one form to the other is exemplified, In the hills of Kangra and Shimla community of rights, whether based on the tribe or on the village, is unknown. Sikhism must be studied in the Punjab: the land of its Gurus.

The Punjab can show

no vast cities to rival Calcutta and Bombay

no great factories,

no varied mineral wealth ;

The occupations of its people are still not without an interest of their own.

The husbandmen of the Punjab furnish to the English market supplies of wheat.

The pursuits of

the nomad pastoral tribes of the western doabs

and of the river populations of the Indus and Sutlej,

the POWINDAH traffic of Dera Ghazi Khan

and the salt mines of Jhelum are all well worthy of investigation and description

while the silk and pashm fabrics

and embroideries of Delhi, Ludhiana and Amritsar,

the enamels of Multan,

the damascening of Sialkot and Gujrat

the potterv of Multan,

and the beautiful jewellery and miniature painting of Delhi,have acquired a fame extending far beyond the limits of the Province.

A GLOSSARY OF THE TRIBES AND CASTES OF THE Punjab and North-West Frontier Province Based on the Census Report for the Punjab, 1883, by the late Sir DENZIL IBBETSON, K.C.S.i., and the Census Report for the Punjab, 1 892, by the Hon. Mr. E. D. MacLAGAN, C.S.i., and complied by H. A. ROSE. pub. By LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB

JavaScript is currently disabled.Please enable it for a better experience of Jumi.

Donate to AllAboutSikhs.com

Your donations will keep Allaboutsikhs.com in Chardikala

Subscription Options

JavaScript is currently disabled.Please enable it for a better experience of Jumi.

WorldGurudwaras.com

Worldgurudwaras.com will strive to be most comprehensive directory of Historical Gurudwaras and Non Historical Gurudwaras around the world. The etymology of the term 'gurdwara' is from the words 'Gur (ਗੁਰ)' (a reference to the Sikh Gurus) and 'Dwara (ਦੁਆਰਾ)' (gateway in Gurmukhi), together meaning 'the gateway through which the Guru could be reached'. Thereafter, all Sikh places of worship came to be known as gurdwaras.

TheSikhEncyclopedia.com

Encyclopedias encapsulate accurate information in a given area of knowledge and have indispensable in an age which the volume and rapidity of social change are making inaccessible much that outside one's immediate domain of concentration.At the time when Sikhism is attracting world wide notice, an online reference work embracing all essential facets of this vibrant faithis a singular contribution to the world of knowledge. TheSikhEncyclopedia.com